


You can always stay on the castle grounds

by chaolie



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, mcyt
Genre: At Least I Think So??, Canon Rewrite, Eret-centric (Video Blogging RPF), Gen, Is it fluff? Is it Angst? Up to you, It is a bit soft tho, Multiple Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), small canon divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 13:22:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29635299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaolie/pseuds/chaolie
Summary: Eret was aware that they weren't around for quite a while now, so they were prepared to find their once great castle either covered in red vines or completely ruined. Yet when they finally make it home, they find it almost as if they never left, as if someone was around to take care of it for them. Puzzled, they try to find any answers by walking around the structure, but they find something else instead. Someone.
Relationships: Eret & Floris | Fundy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56





	You can always stay on the castle grounds

**Author's Note:**

> Did I randomly get an urge to write this? Yes. Do I have other things I should be doing? Also yes. But hey, at least I enjoyed it! And I hope you will too!

When Eret came back from what seemed like one of the longest of their travels, they didn't have their expectations too high. They were aware that when they left, things were going downhill and they highly doubted that they'd come back to all the dangers handled and the broken lands rebuilt. But even while they were just leaving for their journey, they were sure that this break was the best they could do. They weren't the only one leaving either, last they heard, Fundy went away to "clear his mind" as well. 

Even before getting too close to the mainland, he could already tell that he was right about things getting worse. The red vines were everywhere, blocking most of the paths and covering multiple buildings. Clearly, the egg was busy while he was away. With a sigh, he continued on. When he finally reached the prime path, it was already getting dark and everyone seemed to be in their bases. Or at least away from the path, which allowed him to safely walk towards the castle, doing his best to avoid the vines and preparing himself for the worse. There was no telling what happened to his base while he was away. 

The first noticeable difference was the lack of a beacon. Eret shouldn't be surprised, this was just what happened to any valuables left unattended around here. To her delight, the rest of the lights were still working and the colors of the beams kept changing. Usually, that thing broke rather quickly and she was ready to go down and fix it, but not having to do that was a pleasant surprise. The next thing she noticed was a couple of holes in the ground and some blocks misplaced in the castle walls. Clearly, there were some explosions someone tried to cover up, and clearly, they failed to do that. With a sigh, Eret went back to the tower and hoped that not all of her chests were empty. 

After climbing up the ladder, he soon discovered that not all of his old supplies were taken yet. In one of the chests, he found over 3 stacks of dirt, which was more than enough to fix the holes in the ground. He stretched his back and quickly put away all the things he got during the journey before grabbing the dirt, a couple of torches, and some other supplies. He climbed back down and focused on fixing the small piece of land between the main castle and its walls, trying not to think of how the structure must look on the inside.

When the ground was fully fixed and properly lit up with torches, she had no more excuses and had to step into the main part of the build. She took the first couple of steps and was… pleasantly surprised. She expected a tone of vines overgrowing the castle and dust on every possible surface, but it looked almost as well as when she left. Just as if someone was taking care of it while she was away, which would be strange. H moved out quite a bit ago, didn’t he? So who would be kind enough to look after such a big place?

As Eret wandered around, they started to notice a couple of things misplaced or stolen, but again, nothing as severe as they assumed. Just like outside, some of the walls were damaged and patched up with the wrong blocks, as were some pieces of the floor, but if they weren’t the one to build this place, they could’ve even missed it. Some gold from their throne was missing, which was probably the most severe and noticeable change inside of the building. Other than that, it was just as if Eret never left.

He spent quite a while walking around and looking for more damages, but failed to find much more. Whoever looked after his place did a great job and left Eret wondering how could he repay them. And how to find them in the first place, of course. He was really grateful for all they’ve done, and made a mental note to look for them the first thing in the morning. But tonight, he was too tired to do that. He decided to go see the small garden in the middle of the castle for a bit before he’d go to sleep, that was the last place he had to check for any damages. 

With torch in hand to light the way, she entered the small garden and at first, didn’t notice any changes. Even better, someone seemed to take care of all the plants in it, they seemed as healthy as ever. With a soft smile on her face, she approached the fountain in the middle and leaned against it, listening to the sound of the water flowing and allowing herself to relax. Everything was fine, the castle was still standing strong against the vines and any other dangers. She looked around one final time, and  _ that’s  _ when she noticed it. Something, no,  _ someone  _ was lying on their side next to the fountain, barely visible in the darkness. She gasped and stepped back, putting the torch higher to see them better.

After a moment, Eret finally recognized Fundy. The fox was curled up on the grass, using his jacket as a blanket and covering most of his fur with it, which explained why the king didn’t notice him at first. He wasn’t hurt, or at least didn’t look like he was, he appeared to be simply asleep. That was rather unusual, he usually stayed up until late and woke up at the slightest of sounds, but now he didn’t even react to anything happening around him.

With concern on his face, Eret approached the fox and crouched down next to him. Now he could finally see different tools scattered around, as well as some stone and other supplies. With that in mind, it seemed pretty obvious that he must’ve been the one to take care of the building, and that he probably overworked himself during the day. And while Eret appreciated that, seeing him basically passed out on the ground was worrying, even if he seemed to be comfortable like that. When he once told the fox that he was “always welcome to stay on the castle’s grounds”, he didn’t mean the actual  _ ground. _

“...Come on, let’s get you to one of the bedrooms, Fundy,” he sighed quietly, carefully trying to pick him up from the dirt.

Because of his non-human nature, Fundy was light enough for Eret to lift up with very little effort. Surprisingly, the fox didn’t wake up when he was moved, but the ruler could swear they felt him relax in their arms as they walked out from the garden and carefully carried him through the halls. They couldn’t help but wonder how long he was alone in the palace, trying to take care of it and, as they assumed, stop everyone from taking it apart for every single valuable block they ever owned.

With the fox still asleep in her arms, she reached one of the guest bedrooms in the castle and carefully entered, doing her best to not wake him up on this final stretch. The bedroom was as well taken care of as the rest of the building, which led her to realize that Fundy was well aware of its existence. This made her more confused about finding him sleeping in the garden. Why would he choose to sleep on the grass, covered with nothing but his jacket? Was he that exhausted?

Finally, Eret set him down on the gues bed and threw the covers over him. He then left the fox’s jacket and hat on the chest in the room and took a step back. Fundy was already laying comfortably, his hand lightly holding the covers close to his chest, and Eret still had many questions. Yet he accepted that he wouldn’t get any answers now, not this late, not when the fox was asleep. He stepped back and quietly walked back to the door, stopping briefly only to mutter a goodnight. After that, he went straight to his own bedroom and started to prepare to rest. He could learn everything tomorrow.


End file.
